The beginning of the adventure and the dream for future

This past summer my husband and I purchased a house. Not just any house however – an incredible Victorian built in 1882. We were and still are so excited for this adventure of home ownership. We can’t wait to share with you the journey of creating a home here. The house itself has not always received the love and care it deserved. We are changing that.

The restoration process will take a long time. At times it seems daunting. Sometimes it feels as progress is not being made especially when we have to work on things that are more functional rather than aesthetic. However, each day, we take one step forward. And, I have begun to realize that the journey is important too – not just the destination. I have in just a few months gotten to learn new skills like wall repair and replacing rotten wood, grow in communication with my husband as we navigate decisions, and learn to balance social life with working on the house. And I am sure that many more valuable lessons will arise as we continue.

We have many inflight projects that I will share latter, but for now I just want to share some of the overall design vision that helps keep me excited through the not so exciting days of patching cracks in the plaster or replacing mortar in the basement.

Modern Victorian Style

One of the things we love about our house is the character it has. The woodwork, ornate and rich, the large stunning windows, the pocket doors, the list goes on. It is certainly not your cookie cutter house, and we love that. However, we also do not want our house to be Victorian in all senses of the word. Instead, while giving a nod to that time period through classic trim and shelving, we want to use more modern colors, fixtures, and hardware. You will see more of this balance and blend of old and new in the following sections on our design choices. Overall, we hope to create a space of elegance in this modern Victorian.

Palate

In choosing a palate for the house, we focused on drawing from places of serenity and beauty – the forests of the mountains. We both love nature and sought to bring in aspects of that through the colors we chose. Specifically, we have many blues and greens in our palate, ranging from light to dark. While some rooms will have colored walls (and ceilings), many will have white to contrast and enhance the beautiful wood and accentuate the beautiful natural light we have.

Materials

We love the woodwork in our house and want to maintain that as a prominent feature. We will keep the existing wood trim and add additional features of wood through furniture. To maintain a taste of the Victorian era we also want to use classic materials such as bronze and leather in our furniture, light fixtures, and hardware. While using these materials, these pieces themselves will be of more modern design than that of the Victorian time period. In addition, we will bring in marble and quartz to enhance the elegance of the design in areas such as the kitchen and bathrooms.

Exterior

Creating both a functional and beautiful space is key for our yard. The yard with many trees and bushes will be cleared to open up more yard space for use entertaining. Functional vegetable gardens and fruit trees will be added in the side and back yard. New flowers and landscaping will be put in the front and side yards. Classic flowers such as hydrangea and rose in white, peach, and pink will be used to compliment the blue the exterior of the house will be.

I hope you are as excited as we are to bring this vision to life. I can’t wait to share as we work on creating and crafting our home: Apricity house.